"If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of your company" - most leaders have read or been told some version of this (almost poetic) piece of advice. Too simple to be true? No, very true actually - just incomplete. Leaders, too - like employees and businesses - need to be taken care of. And since initiative is at the very heart of leadership as a concept, that cycle of support should begin with them – which means that leaders need to manage and take care of themselves first. Selfish? No; selfishness is not about caring for yourself – it's about not caring for others. And since one of the key reasons a leader should work on managing and caring for themselves is to be able to better care for others, self-care would, in effect, be the opposite of that. Selflessness? Yes; it follows that, with the right intentions, self-care is an important part of, and sometimes even the first step in, the effort to practice selflessness. I recently saw an Instagram reel about parents who want to stay fit which said (short version): “Most parents claim they would be willing to die for their kids; but are they willing to live for them?” The same applies to (all other forms of) leadership. Contradictory? No; very coherent, actually – just slightly counterintuitive, and that much more intriguing. The best part? Simply trying it out in practice will prove how profoundly true it is. Ready to try it out? I certainly hope so. #selflessness #selfishness #selfcare #selfmanagement #leadership #management
Nicely said and certainly true Mustafa Šuvalija 👍
People & Culture Head Balkans & Caucasus at Roche | Leadership Geek | Exploration Aficionado | Future of Work
1moIt for a reason they say put your mask on first in case of emergency! If you want to take care of others, you also need to take care of yourself first.